Originals: “A-me-ri-ca”

Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, Vol. 2 featured the song “A-me-ri-ca” from the wildly successful cultural milestone West Side Story. While the story was originally produced on Broadway, it was the film that became a cultural phenomenon, and cover versions of the film’s most popular songs were found on seemingly everone’s albums back in the day.

Alpert changed up the original’s polyrhythmic structure and set it to his own mariachi-themed arrangement, a favorite track on the Brass’s second album that is as much fun to listen as the original movie clip from which it was taken.